The Missing Years
by Riri.Riii
Summary: Time passes, sometimes in short increments, in other times not so much. Now we're finally filling in the blanks that we're left out of A Girl, Her Power and a Twenty Year Old Battle. Some stories will be from the three year gap and others from the eight year gap, and possibly from what happened after the wedding! Chapter summaries inside due to constant changes
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: So...it's been a while. Probably about a year and a half since I finished the Sky High fic and I'm about three weeks away from it being a year since I've posted anything all together. So...yeah it's kind of been a while. So, I'm going to be the first to say Hi, I'm back. And to celebrate my return...A bonus story(?)(All of the extras ever!) for my Sky High fic A Girl, Her Power and a Twenty Year Old Battle! (New comers go read that first...everything will make more sense)...SO I guess I should explain when this chapter is set or what's going on or something. Well it's set in between the three years of Warren's disappearance and Serenity's graduation. This chapter in particular is set at the end of her junior year. It's a two parter about Serenity and Munchie! Though I'm not entirely sure when I'll have the second chapter done due to school and stuff, but I'm going to my best. Also I guess I should mention that it's Serenity's first person point of view because it makes more sense (At least I think so) this way. So, before I start rambling more, I'm going to stop and let you read this. Enjoy and (if you feel like it) let me know what you think. =D)

Sky High belongs to it's legal owners

The Power of a Rumor: Part one

Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you could just use your super powers for evil and just destroy everything in your way? I have, twice actually; both times involved my fifteen years younger cousin. Now I guess that I have heard the rumors about her being my and he-who-shall-not-be-named's daughter. Truth is that that information is completely false and when I find out whoever it was that spread it I'll kick their ass…

Ahem…right back onto point. At the time I thought they were just rumors, just something to amuse our bored teenage minds with; that it was just simple gossip, but apparently rumors spread. And this particular rumor spread like wild fire in the "Super Community". Apparently the niece of the Principal of Sky High getting knocked up by the son of Barron Battle was big news.

Anyways, this 'news' spread to the ears of a few…well I wouldn't exactly call them villains…more like misguided souls who had some sort of grudge against Barron Battle. (Seriously guys he's in solitary…get over it already) And so this is how our story begins…

* * *

It's not every day that I stand outside the day care center staring at the owner as she stammered out a tale about how Munchie had already been picked up by someone who claimed to be, and looked like, her father which was absolutely insane not to mention impossible considering that Uncle Rob has been and still is out of the city on a business trip. I let out a sigh and stopped her, really how was I supposed to explain that she had been kidnapped by a shape shifter. It had taken a bit of time for me to feel (sense…whatever it is I do) the residual energy of the shift.

I let out another sigh, though this one was more directed at my stroke of insanely bad luck I've been having since I entered Sky High. Why was Munchie being kidnapped bad luck for _me_? Well today is the eve of my Heroes History final and if I don't spend all of tonight studying for it I'd fail, completely. I quickly let the Day Care owner know that it was okay and I'd go find her. And I did just that.

* * *

My search led me to the warehouse district. Why the warehouse district? And how did I know? Well first there are only two placed where people take kidnap victims: warehouses and their secret lair in the middle of the forest. Thankfully there weren't really any forests in the area so I had only one option. Besides they had left behind a trail of shape shifting energy…is that what it's called? I don't even know anymore…

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket as I traced the next cluster of energy. I pulled it out and answered it, "Serenity here."

"Where are you?! We've been waiting for you for half an hour!" Mia's voice rang out.

…

Oh right I had a study session with Mia and Jason today…

I spoke when I realized she was actually waiting for an answer, "Well…I'm downtown."

"Why?" Her voice was suspicious.

"Some shape shifter took Munchie and I fully intend to take her back."

"Wait…what?"

"You know where the spare key is so just let yourselves in and if Auntie comes home tell her that I've gone to go get snacks and that I brought Munchie with me because I don't trust you two to watch over her." I hung up the phone as I stood in front of the doors where I felt the shape shifter's power at its strongest. I imagine that another thing that helped was the fact that Munchie's latent powers were sending out little pulses of power, no doubt because she was terrified. Poor girl, don't worry I'll save you soon.

I would have kicked in the door, had it not been made of metal and was more likely to do more damage to my foot than my foot to it. So I did the second best thing I could think of, I slammed opened the sliding doors, although getting the process started took some…effort. People really should start making it easier for heroes to make more dramatic entrances.

I stared into the wide empty warehouse, well from what I could see it was empty, because holy frig it was dark in there! I had to take a calming breath, swallow down the lump of fear that built in my throat and tell myself that it was okay because Brian was in prison and that the darkness couldn't hurt me anymore. Truth be told, it didn't work…what so ever. I don't care that I'm sixteen and still afraid of the dark because it doesn't matter who you think you are when you've lived with a phobia as long as I have (it's been nearly a decade now) you don't get over it just because insane uncle gets put in jail.

I ignored the whole mind over matter principle and felt my hands light up as my power swirled around them. Whelp time to light up this pathetic excuse of an evil base. I threw the light balls into the air and they exploded into tiny balls of light, though they looked like little stars. The warehouse was lit enough for me to be able to see into the room. And the first thing I saw was Munchie, or at least what I hoped was her, looking around frantically, probably confused by the lack of people.

She stopped looking around when she saw me and waved as she got up to walk (stumble) towards me. Yeah that was her, all smiles and laughter, even now in the midst of danger, she was smiling at me. I ran to her and picked her up, holding her close. (I would once again like to state that she's my cousin and not my daughter.) I put her down and began looking her over, she was alright, at least she looked it, I made sure to ask and she nodded.

I let out a sigh of relief then stood with her hand in mine. Then I spoke or rather called, "I know you're here, you might as come out and play."

A man came out from the back and I heard him snarl, "You're not the one who should have come!"

I felt my eyebrows quirk upwards, "Oh then who should have?"

"The child of Barron Battle…" It came out as another snarl.

I paused. They wanted War—He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named? Why would they want him? More importantly why would they want Mun-Oh…I broke out into laughter that probably confused him to no end. When I stopped I had to wipe the tears from my eyes, yes I had laughed that much, not because I missed He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. (Even in my own thoughts.) I had to stifle the remains of my laughter when I spoke, "Oh my…you're one…" A laugh escaped, "of those people…" I had to swallow another laugh, "who believe that stupid rumor!" The laughter burst out again in full force.

I could feel his eyes on me and he snarled (or would it be snapped because it was kind of sounded like a cross between the two.) "That's enough!" He waited until I sobered up, "Where is the son of Barron Battle?!"

I shrugged, "How should I know? Besides, even if she was o-" I choked on the word 'ours', so I switched, "his which, and let me emphasize this, she **ISN'T**, he wouldn't even know because she's been gone for nearly two years now!" The fact that I had been able to say that without my voice breaking was amazing. "Why do you even want him?"

He stepped into the light where I could fully see him. Half of his face was charred, which explained the snarling. Speaking of snarling he was talking again, "Barron Battle killed my family!"

"So what? You're going to kill his? While he's in solitary…where he won't even hear about it." I looked at him skeptically.

"That may be the case but as long as he suffers the same way I did that's all that matters though perhaps you coming here is a good thing."

Well that certainly didn't sound good, I looked at Munchie and placed my hands over my eyes telling her to cover her own, when I looked at her she had mimicked my actions. I turned to the man and spoke calmly, "Look whatever you do to us; it won't bring him out of hiding."

"Well I'm going to have to test that theory out, now aren't I?"

"I won't let you use us as your bait."

"I know that's why I'll just have to kill you both." He smiled.

I sighed…Of course it'd come down to that. With a quick look at Munchie, who was still covering her eyes, I looked back at the man who seemed to be powering up. I let out another sigh, well…it was either us or him and since I wasn't about to let Munchie die in front of me I figured that my best choice was stopping him before he had a chance to try.

I knew my features had changed as I felt that cold calm inside of me that I used for 'Save the Citizen'. I know he saw how calm and calculating my eyes were and the line that my lips had formed into. Then the next thing I saw was his eyes go wide as his powering up was cut short.

Now I've never had my own powers neutralized (I mean how do you neutralize the powers of someone who can neutralize someone else's powers?), but judging by the look on his face I imagine it isn't very fun. But the best part about my lovely power is its ability to confuse my opponents, which meant an opening! Now for the fun part!

While he was still confused or shocked or whatever, I dashed towards him and my knee connected with his stomach. My left palm met his chin slamming his jaw shut causing his teeth to click loudly then my right palm slammed into his charred cheek, sending it downward. In an attempt to defend himself, he reached for me, going for my, incredibly awesome, hair so my right hand quickly went to the pressure point on his shoulder. He watched in horror as his arm went limp and I instantly knew that he was attempting to move it. I used this distraction to grip his other shoulder and jumped, my arms pushed me up and over him. The moment my feet hit the ground I was using the remains of the momentum to lift him off his feet and threw him as hard as I could. (See freshmen, this is exactly why you should learn unarmed combat.) I was in the middle of my hero pose when I heard him hit the metal of the warehouse wall causing me to look up and see him slumped there.

No I didn't kill him…Probably. If super villains died that easily then I imagine that when the energy ball, from a couple of years back, would have killed Brian when it had exploded, but it didn't…and now that I think about it, it almost killed me instead…Anyways!

I turned around to look at Munchie, who was still covering her eyes and I walked over to her. I tapped my chin and a confused noise. "Huh? Where'd Munchie go?" I feigned looking around and she began giggling and I saw a blue eye peak out from behind her hands but I continued looking around. "Munchie?" I called her name again only a bit louder this time. She dropped her hands and made a noise that I knew was for my name then I looked at her directly. "Oh there she is!" I walked to her and picked her up when she reached for me. "Come on let's go home."

Well we were planning to go home until I heard snarling, which brought me back to our first lesson of our Villain Management class. Always…_Always_ make sure your villain is secured before turning your back on them. Well guess what I forgot to do…Whoops. I heard nails or rather claws scrape against the cement flooring. Oh boy did I screw up. If I turned around I imagine that there would be a wolf or lion behind us, which is exactly why I hate shape shifters! They always transform into animals that are liable to eat you!

I tucked Munchie against my front and leaned over covering her completely. I heard him leap into the air and as usual when I get desperate, something (namely my offensive power) exploded, but unlike last time it was more controlled and I wasn't the one who was going to end up in a hospital bed for a week. (Win.) I heard a yelp and another thump as he hit the wall, but the next sound I heard was more ominous; it was the sound of metal collapsing in on its self.

Whoops.

Whelp, time to get out here, or not… At least I thought it was, Munchie on the other hand thought it wasn't. She stared past my shoulder and made the noise I knew was for wolf which roughly meant we weren't leaving until I grabbed the damn wolf. With a resigned sigh I walked (jogged) to the still shape shifted wolf, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck and dragged it to the front entrance.

As we got out of the building it collapsed in on its self, I imagine if there had been a breeze or something we'd have been buried under it. I looked down at the shape shifter then with a sigh I wondered what to do with him…

Oh well that solves that problem…

I looked up when I sensed four different powers. Two people blessed with the power of flight and two people blessed with super strength. I already knew who was flying to us. It was the Stronghold Three: The Greatest Family of Super Heroes the World Has Ever Known. Long title, huh? That's why we just call them the Stronghold Three, at least the people who were close enough to them to know their secret identities do.

I waited for them to land, Jetstream place The Commander down first before landing herself, her boots barely made a sound as she landed. Then finally Will landed and despite all of his bravado he was still wearing a spandex suit with tights causing me to swallow my laughter. He eyed me suspiciously as I tried to keep my face blank…I think he knew just how ridiculous he looked but just didn't want it confirmed.

Before I could break out into another full blown laugh attack, I quickly tossed the shape shifter over to their feet, reminding me exactly why I was in this stupid position to begin with. And this position involved standing in front of a collapsed building (despite the fact that it was poorly made to begin with) with both The Commander and Jetstream staring at me suspiciously as if I was the cause of this (because ya' know I'm totally going to bring Munchie with me while I go on some vigilante bender) with an unconscious shape shifter laying between us.

I was the first to speak, kind of, I actually only said two words, "Merry Christmas." The words were cold and probably would have made more sense had I gift wrapped the wolf for them. They raised their eyebrows at me but by the time they could think of anything to say, I was already walking away.

Will was the one who called after me, "Where are you going?!"

I looked at them back with a smirk, "Study group!" I saw him smile before I turned to Munchie and smiled, "Let's go home."

* * *

Thinking back on it now, the first time had been pretty tame. Thinking about it now, I hadn't really understood the meaning of fear until the second time. Even now if I said I was afraid of another human, it would be a complete lie because the only person I'll ever be truly afraid of…is me.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Yay the final part! It only took me a little bit longer than a month to write but it's done so YAY! Also this is like twice the size of part one...I think I might have gotten carried away. =D)

Sky High belongs to its legal owners.

The Power of a Rumor: Part Two

The second time that that rumor had gotten me more than dirty looks and whispers behind my back was during the middle of winter break my senior year. Now I have never really been fond of the winter, not because of the snow or the cold (okay a little because of the cold) but because the days were too short and the nights were too long. Maybe it was because the sun wasn't out enough or maybe it was because my powers felt weaker or because I was sluggish all the time but the main point is that during the winter I'm not exactly at my best, it sometimes gets to the point that even 'Save the Citizen' becomes difficult. (And believe me when I say that 'Save the Citizen' is never difficult.) I imagine that if it had been during the summer they wouldn't have been able to sneak up on us like they did. That if it had been summer perhaps things wouldn't have ended the way they did...

* * *

Winter break is probably my least favorite time of the year. Why? Because it's so boring! There is literally nothing to do without stepping out into the abysmal darkness formerly known as outside. And WOW! Was it abysmal and dark out there! The clouds had rolled in about an hour ago...and to think it's only two o'clock. Seems like a storm's coming.

I pulled away from the window, there were more important things I could be doing. Like taking a nap, because Munchie was FINALLY asleep and I felt gross. Seriously, winter is gross. I twisted the black spiral ring that rested on my right hand ring finger and felt a little more relaxed from the warmth of it resting there. I took a small breath then grabbed the baby monitor before heading to the couch. I laid down and waited for sleep to take me. And it did, relatively quickly though my nap didn't last very long.

My eyes snapped open when I heard a crackling noise coming from the monitor. After the crackling stopped I heard crying...then silence. I don't think my feet have ever taken me up those stairs faster. Taking two at a time and, surprisingly, not tripping up any of them had me up them in less than ten seconds. I slammed open the door and looked around only to see Munchie in the arms of a larger man. (Oh who am I kidding he was fat.) But before I could snarl out any kind of warning I felt an arm wrap around my waist, holding me back. I heard a laugh from behind me but kept my eyes on Munchie. "Look, Speed, she came running just like the old man said."

"Well if what the old man said was true then this should get his attention." There was a pause, "What'll we do with the brat?"

"You lea..." My sentence was cut off as a cloth covered my nose and mouth and I held back my need to breathe. (If there was one thing that sidekick class has taught me, it's how to stop my breathing at a moment's notice.) I began to struggle against my captor but somehow his arm managed to keep his hold on my waist but still managed to capture my arms and wrap around my rib cage.

"We'll take her with us." His arm squeezed and I gasped. The scent on the cloth was one that I knew from Mr. Medulla's class. Chloroform; fan-tucking-fastic. I felt my eyes grow heavy and my vision began to blur. "After all..." A face appeared in front of me. "It would be irresponsible to leave her unsupervised."

Then there was blackness...

* * *

I awoke to the sound of Munchie crying. The sound got my eyes to open, barely. I went to move my hands to calm her down but I quickly realized that my hands were bound above my head. How had I not noticed that before? Seriously, how do you miss that? I had to tug on my hands a bit before realizing that I wasn't budging. My fingers quickly felt around to see if there was a switch or something that'd release the cuffs. I, of course, didn't find any but I did feel a screen; which in hero talk usually meant that there was a power neutralizer in the cuffs somewhere and judging by my lack of ability to make even a tiny ball of light, it was on full blast.

Damn.

My attention went back to Munchie when she gave a hiccuping sob. Right. First, things first. When I attempted to shh, her it came out something like sllhhhh. When did my mouth get so dry? Wow, chloroform apparently does wonders for the body. After a couple of moments spent swallowing I tried speaking again. "Munchie?" Much better.

She gave another hiccuping gasp before looking at me, "Senity..."

"Are you alright?"

She shook her head and let out a choked, "Hurts."

I quickly noticed that she was in almost the same position as I was, her hands bound by neutralizing cuffs as well but there was another thing that I noticed, something very different than my own cuffs. Her neutralizers were turned off. Oh those poor sods, there goes their plan. "Munchie, come here."

She shook her head again, "Hurts!"

"Munchie!" That got her attention, "I need you to come here. I know it hurts, but only look at me, think only of me." I could see her trying to ignore the pain the cuffs were causing her.

I watched as a fresh set of tears began to fall from her eyes, "Can't! Hurts!"

"Yes, you can. Think about your ca—crib and how the locks come undone, because it's all you want. Now think that way for the things around your wrists. I know it's hard, but I need you to do this for me."

She smiled and I knew that she was thinking of how she escapes from her crib every morning. I felt a vague sense of power emanate from her. (Apparently my new accessory is affecting that too.) Now to be completely honest I have no idea as to why my nearly two year old cousin has powers that she can (kind of) activate of her own free will because I sure didn't when I was her age. Maybe it's because she's been close to a power booster since she was in the womb, causing her powers to accelerate that much faster or perhaps it's because of supers popping up everywhere (And I do mean EVERYWHERE) in our lineage, but to be frank it was kind of unnerving knowing that she could pretty much phase through nearly any or everything she wanted. But at this very moment, as I saw the cuffs fall from her wrists, I was grateful for her gift.

She smiled at me as she walked/stumbled towards me. "Senity, Munchie did it."

"Yeah I saw, you're such a good girl, I'm so proud." I smiled, "Now do you think you could unlock mine?" She frowned clearly not certain she could, but I just kept smiling, "Try."

She had to balance herself on my shoulder, while standing on her tiptoes, and still had a hard time reaching the cuffs. She placed her hand on top of my head before using my back as a step ladder, digging her foot into my spine and suddenly I was incredibly grateful that she didn't have her shoes on. She made a pleased noise as she phased through the metal and wiring of my cuffs but let out a frustrated noise when the locks didn't snap open from the interference that her hand was causing between the wires. But I felt something happen; I felt some of my powers return.

"Stay like that." I told her. If there was one thing I was glad for, it was the fact that they hadn't removed my ring. Well at least most people thought it was a ring, but to people who were in my joint hero/sidekick mad science class it was a bond between partners.

(Okay I imagine this needs some explaining...My ring is basically an embodiment of dark energy binding me to Mia. The last time this sort of thing happened she freaked out and asked (demanded) Mr. Medulla to make us something so that no matter what happened we'd be able to find each other. She had a similar ring made of my light energy wrapped around her own ring finger, thus binding us together.)

I toyed with the spiral ring as I pictured Mia in my mind. I felt the usual whoosh from the bond, tugging me to her. I saw her standing in the midst of a snow storm with an aura of dark energy surrounding her (I should have known it was her causing that abysmal darkness outside) as she reveled in the chaos the storm was causing. She paused as she felt a pulse come from her ring. (The signal that one of us was trying to contact the other) I watched as she closed her eyes and her voice rang through my head.

"What's wrong?" She asked with her calm voice.

"Munchie and I were kidnapped." I felt her disbelief and heard her groan but before she could say anything I continued, "I don't know who did it, and I have no idea where we are. But my powers are neutralized," Before she questioned how I was contacting her I spoke quickly, "Munchie's currently phased through the cuffs but I can't see any shadows and we need your help."

"You don't need shadows, you're wearing some." I saw her smirk, "Throw it onto the ground."

I struggled to get my ring off and I could feel Munchie's small fingers trying to help. But something caught my attention; there was a sound of a door slamming open. I struggled harder now, but one of our captors shout distracted me, pulling me away from the connection.

"Stay with me Serenity, it's going to be fine, just get the ring on the ground." She quickly told me.

I felt the person come closer to us but my ring wouldn't budge. I did the only thing I could think of, "Munchie! RUN!"

I heard her stammer out a, "But..."

"I'll be fine, go!"

Mia's voice echoed through my head, "Serenity!"

I looked up enough to catch a good enough look at our captors, knowing full well that she'd see it, before Munchie's hand slipped from the cuffs and she began running away from the man approaching us. But a burst of wind slipped past me and I heard Munchie scream.

"Senity!" She cried as she struggled against the larger man, whose name if I recall correctly was Speed.

"Let her go!" I snarled.

The other man, the one who chloroformed me, looked down at me. "Keep the girl in a well lit room so her partner can't find her, the old man said. Keep the neutralizers on at full strength so she can't attack you, the old man said. But he never said anything about the brat!"

"Okay first off, she's not a 'brat' she's a toddler." I spoke, "Secondly, who's the old man you two keep talking about? Thirdly, let me out of here, NOW."

He began laughing, "Let you out? We need you."

"Yeah what's new? You and the rest of the villain population apparently need me. So let me just spell it out here and now, I will NEVER lend my power to you or anyone else. Now let us go!"

His arm elongated and tilted my chin up to look up at him fully, to a nearly painful degree. "Is that really why you think we captured you? Get over yourself, you're just our bait." He let me go and began to walk toward the door.

"What'll we do with the brat, Lash?" Speed asked as Lash approached him.

"Bring her with us; they clearly can't be trusted to be alone together."

"Senity!" Munchie cried out as they began walking out.

"Munchie! Give her back!" I tugged against my cuffs; I felt them dig into my wrists, no doubt breaking the skin. I didn't stop struggling with my binds until after the door slammed shut. I had to feel blood trickle down my arms before I took a calming breath. I began to focus on getting my ring off, slowly twisting it towards the tip of my ring finger. When it slipped off, I closed my fist around it, taking in the warmth of it before throwing it as hard I could.

It flew a few meters away from me. (And yes I am blaming that distance on my hands being bound.) I watched as it shivered and trembled until it finally began spinning. The dark energy began to expand, spiraling outwards until a large circle formed. Then the shadows began to pull upwards and a woman began to form. She had long black hair and as she opened her nearly black eyes, I let out a sigh of relief. "Mia!" I cried.

"Yes, you idiot, I'm here now." Always so hurtful, it hurts sometimes you know.

"Hurry up and get me out of here. They took Munchie; I have to get her back before Auntie comes home!"

"I wouldn't worry about that, the storms got the roads all congested." She paused as she walked over to me, "Oh by the way, since someone ended our call early, I ended up calling Stronghold and Layla."

"Oh...well that was nice of you..." I paused then sighed, "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Yeah their a little more than irritated that you interrupted their date night."

"I never said-"

She stepped behind me and spoke, "Don't move."

I did exactly as she told me, even after the tentacles of shadow began climbing up me. Seriously it feels like a couple of snakes every time she does this...I'm so going to need another bath after this. They moved past my chest and onto my arms then finally into my cuffs. I heard her make a noise as if she was hurt, but still I didn't move. I wouldn't move until she told me to because this is how we worked best.

She spoke again, "Be ready to move on three." I felt something shift in my cuffs, "One..." Another shift. "Two." There was a click as the cuffs undid, "Three!" I rolled out of the way as she jumped back as the cuffs exploding.

"What'd you do?"

"It's probably best if you pretend as if you never asked." Her face was blank which probably meant it was something she either didn't want to admit (After all a hero never gives out their secrets) or it was something that she learnt from her time with her father.

I heard a cry and ran towards the door, I tugged on the door handle but it didn't budge. Stupid thing was locked from the outside. Forget it; I give up on playing nicely. I launched a ball of light at it and heard the wood splint under it. I kicked it and it cracked. So I launched another ball of light at it, only this one was larger. The wood shattered, raining down splinters as I felt a small wave of satisfaction run through me.

Another cry echoed through the hallway and I began running. My feet hit the concrete ground faster than when I had ascended the stairs. The only thing on my mind was getting Munchie away from them, even though I heard Mia yelling at me to slow down from behind me. I launched another ball of light at the upcoming door blowing off its handle. It swung open as I ran in. I quickly stopped and stared at the two at the back of the room. I could feel my 'battle' calm slip into place before I spoke, "I'll have you return Munchie to me now."

"Oh...well this is interesting. How'd you get out?" Lash stood and began walk over to me. (And by walk I mean it took him five steps to get to me, because he started stretching his legs out to ridiculous lengths.)

When he was close enough, I hit him. My fist hit him square in the jaw with enough force to land him on the ground. "I said. Return Munchie to me now." There was no calm remaining in my voice, just pure threat. And for the first time I could tell that he was truly looking at me. I walked past him to the girl sitting by his friend and my gaze caught his, challenging him. When I walked past him, he didn't do anything so I just picked up Munchie and smiled at her. "Shall we go home?"

"Yeah!" She grinned widely at me before we walked to the corridor that Mia was running though.

She took Munchie from me just I felt Lash's arms wrap around me. Villains never learn, do they? He pulled me back and made sure I was looking at him before he spoke, "Don't even think of leaving. We still haven't gotten our revenge yet."

I smiled, "Revenge against whom?"

"Warren Peace. The old man said if we wanted revenge against him we should take you and the brat."

I paused; well I certainly wasn't expecting that. "Um...you sure it's not revenge against Barron Battle you want?"

"We want revenge against Warren Peace, and the old man said the best way to get him to come out of hiding was to take you and your daughter."

I swallowed down my anger at the mention of using me to get to he-who-still-shall-not-be-named, "The best way to get at him is through me and Munchie? I hate to tell you both but the 'old man' was wrong. Why do you want revenge against him anyways? What did he do?"

"He got us arrested!" Lash snarled. (Oh...they were _that_ Lash and Speed. Weren't they still supposed to be in prison?)

"And he helped take our title away from us in 'Save the Citizen'." Speed snapped.

I paused and thought about it. They had not only kidnapped me but Munchie as well, all for some stupid undefeated title in 'Save the Citizen'. "You want to get revenge on Warren Peace for taking your title in 'Save the Citizen'?" As I said Warren's name (for the first time in over a year), I felt something inside me snap. "For something as shallow as that, you endangered a toddler?" I could feel all eyes on me as I spoke. "Well, let me tell you something about Warren Peace. Even if your plan was to work, using me as bait was a terrible idea. Know why? It's because Warren left me over two years ago." I felt my power slowly begin to build in a way that was almost unfamiliar to me as I opened my eyes. "But even if he did leave me behind, he's still four times the man that both of you are combined." Thinking about being used for revenge against Barron Battle was something I could handle. But being used for revenge against Warren just angered me. Why can't you people realize that HE LEFT ME!

My neutralizing power expanded and Lash's arms snapped back to normal length. I placed my hands and light energy exploded between us, blasting him back. I jumped back and landed in a crouched position. My anger only let me see the two that had brought _him_ up; I didn't care about who I hurt. I just wanted to make them suffer, for what they did to Munchie, for what they had intended to do to us after they got _his_ attention, but most of all for making me have to think of Warren Peace again. After all this time, why did it have to be him?!

I dashed towards Lash, who was in the middle standing. He had been leaning downwards so my knee met his chin easily. My foot connected with his face and with enough force to slam him against the wall, but he didn't get that far since my fist met his face again. I heard something break, probably his nose judging from the amount of blood gushing from it, but I didn't care. I launched one final kick into his chest sending him backwards before blasting at least a dozen light balls at him.

I didn't see him try to get up as Speed tried to run up towards me and catch me off guard with his speed. But the moment he hit my neutralizing barrier he tripped over his own feet and I moved towards him. He attempted to hurriedly get up but kept fumbling, whatever he saw as he looked at me must have been terrifying because I could almost taste the fear emanating from him. When I was close enough to him, he was on his hands and knees which made kicking his stomach easy. So I did. Several times, actually. I eventually managed to flip him over, with the brute force of one my kicks, before I started stomping on his stomach. I could almost feel the ribs cracking under the force of it. Really it was a wonder that he wasn't dead yet.

When I got bored I kicked him away, that's when I noticed Lash standing behind me, no doubt planning to restrain me. I quickly turned and punched him in the stomach. Using the force of it to land him on the ground underneath me that's when I began punching his face. I don't know how long I kept it up for but by the time I was planning to finish, I couldn't tell what he originally looked like. I pulled my fist back for one final strike but before I brought it down I leaned in close and I whispered, "And just for the record, I'm the one who over threw Warren."

I sat back enough and felt my hand swirl with light energy before bringing it down. I stopped suddenly, mere inches from his face, when someone called my name. "SERNITY!" (Well close enough...) My head moved slowly and I saw a girl who was far too young to be here, but I felt like I knew her somehow. I noticed the three standing behind her, one had long black hair with eyes that were nearly as black, another had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a red, white, and blue spandex suit, and the final one had nearly flame red long hair wearing a green sweater with a floral print skirt over her blue jeans...I know these people but I was too busy staring at her red hair, it reminded me of someone. I saw a face, shoulder length straight black hair with a bright red streak, warm dark brown eyes and most importantly a smirk playing upon his lips, lips that I somehow knew what they felt when they were pressed against mine.

I felt whatever had snapped click back into place and I looked back down at Lash, his face broken and bleeding. I felt my eyes widen as he gurgled out something bloody. I quickly got off of him but not without seeing Speed coughing up some bloody saliva. I quickly pushed myself backwards, not without noticing the trail of blood my fingers were leaving behind. I brought my hands close to my face and I stared at them startled. My lips trembled as I whispered, "What have I done?" I buried my fingers into my, thankfully, black shirt as I attempted to stop the trembling.

"Senity!" I heard Munchie call out and heard her small footsteps running towards me. I felt that she was right beside me when she reached out to touch me.

"Don't touch me! Don't taint yourself like that!" I cried out, before curling up into a ball letting my head fall onto the concrete as I tried to keep myself from falling apart.

I sensed Mia and Layla walk over then heard Layla's quiet words, "Mia let's get her home."

"Yeah." I could feel their concerned eyes on me. Don't look at me like that. Don't pity me like that. Please don't pity me like that. Please don't...

Then there was blackness as Mia's shadows engulfed us.

* * *

I sat on the couch, staring at the unlit fire place next unseeingly, after spending an hour scrubbing the blood off of me in the shower. Long after the water had cooled, long after the blood was gone but it didn't matter at that point I had just kept scrubbing until my skin felt raw. I knew that Will had arrived sometime after bringing Lash and Speed back to jail...or was it the hospital?

No don't go there, Serenity, do not go there.

I knew that Will and Layla were staring at me, no doubt in shock. I think I spoke one line since we got back home because I needed to know if they would live, both of them looked at me nervously and I knew that even if they wouldn't they would have lied to me. Now that I was clean, Munchie sat next to me, curled up into a ball at my side, and I didn't push her away, I didn't ask her to go sit by Mia, I didn't tell her that she shouldn't be near me, even though I knew it was true. I couldn't have pushed her away even though I wanted to, because she was the only one looking at me without pity or nervousness or judgement. She was just looking at me like I was her hero, like I was still and would always be her guardian. It made me want to cry.

I didn't though; I refused to cry in front of them. Just like I refused to cry in front of them after Warren left me. Just like I refused to cry in front of them after I had nearly died fighting Brian even if they were all still with me afterwards. There was no way I would ever cry in front of them. I couldn't afford that luxury, not now, not ever. Not if I ever wanted to see those looks of pity leave their eyes.

I hadn't even noticed when my aunt and uncle walked in. My aunt's voice came from the arc of the living room. "Everyone's here?" She must have just seen me because she paused as she assessed the situation, and when she couldn't I imagine she opened her mouth but judging from Mia shaking her head (as I saw from the corner of my eye) she thought better of it.

After that Layla and Will were the first to leave. Then not long after they left, Mia cast one long sparing look at me before leaving herself. Then after a few moments of being alone my aunt, while my uncle put Munchie to sleep, (even though both of them had been looking at me with worry) my aunt cleared her throat and spoke, "Serenity honey...what happened?" My aunt's voice was soft, clearly testing the waters.

Even as she watched me, waiting for an answer, I stood. "I'm feeling a little tired." My voice was quiet as I half lied. I was at the basement stairwell before she could say anything and I was down the stairs before she could even think of following me. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it heavily.

I heard my own voice at the back of my head whispering, _"Not all of them are going to become heroes."_ They were the words I had whispered to Layla on the bus when I had first gotten to know them four years ago. I felt tears well in my eyes.

Then I heard Will's voice from last year, as he stood on my front stairs, looking into my tear filled eyes. _"You and I both know that this isn't working, and that the only way this will start working is if you accept it. All you're doing is hurting yourself and the guys you're using. Maybe if you just stopped to think about, you'd realize that maybe the reason why you can't find another guy is because Warren was and still is your soul mate, just like Layla's mine."_ I quickly made my way over to my CD player, and turned it on just loud enough so that if anyone came to my door they'd only hear music.

As I did that I finally heard _his_ voice, pushing past all of my other thoughts and walls I had built against _him_. What he said to me that afternoon at the hospital pushed its way through to the very center of my mind where it echoed through my ears. _"You won't because you're no villain, Serenity, you're a hero through and through to your very core. That's why Mia went with you, because she believed you were good." _I felt myself crumple up into a heap on the floor before the sobbing started.

Oh God, Warren! Why did you have to leave? Can't you see that I need you?! Did you know that you're the only person who accepts my darkness for what it is? I need you. Please come back! Please tell me that everything is fine. Please just hold me like you did those nights I spent at your place. Please just come back to me!

I don't know how I ended up like this. I was a sobbing mess lying on the carpet begging for the man who left me behind to come back and say that everything was all right. The last time I cried this hard was back when I found out that _he_ had just up and left, only back then I didn't think I'd recover from it. This time I knew differently, tomorrow would be a different day. It'd be the day I spent sleeping and everyone would come and check up on me. Asking about how I was and telling me that everything was fine. And it would be. Because that is what time does, it moves on and eventually most wounds heal.

* * *

And it did, but now that I was in front of Warren Peace wearing my graduation dress and robes as he looked at me, all of the things that I felt for the past three years and all of the things his leaving put me through, came rushing up as I ran to him and I did the only sensible thing that came to mind. I punched him...then I kissed him. He was Warren Peace, the bane of my existence but also the person who I treasure most. He'd always be the reason why I felt like my anger would give me the strength to break through anything but he'd still be the number one thing to calm me down when it really mattered. (Even if I'm not ready to forgive you for leaving, Warren, thank you for coming back.)

* * *

(A/N: And we're done! Yay! But I get the feeling that it kind of went off target. Does anyone else feel that way? I mean I like it but...  
Anyways...drop a line, let me know what you think  
And yes. Serenity has rage issues.)


End file.
